House for All

In its use in Latin languages and Turkish, the word “Hane” (house/home) has almost exactly the same meanings. Having contexts, that can be multiplied, such as surrounding, possessing, belonging to a household, etc., the archetype of the word “house in our minds is universal whether it is domus, heim, hoom, or heem. Although the imagery of house varies depending on cultural, societal, or geographical reasons, its symbolic imagery is almost the same. It includes basic geometric forms such as rectangular, triangular, or square and fundamental colors like red, yellow, and blue. The red roof and the smoking chimney, as if proving the existence of those who live inside, make us think about abstract concepts such as shelter, belonging, ownership, being defined, memory, and protection. It should not be overlooked that the attraction of Hansel and Gretel, adapted by the Grimm Brothers and bearing traces from much older German folklore, to the gingerbread house also touches on the feelings of refuge and belonging. The concept of the archetype, defined by the famous psychoanalyst Jung as the elements that make up our collective unconscious, also provides some clues while trying to decipher the layers of house and its archetypal meaning. For example, the English fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs" also uses the archetype of house to tell the metaphor of self-construction through the house.

The common origins of certain fundamental concepts or human nature can also accompany us when interpreting an artwork. Pınar Yılmaz's series of "Haneler" (Houses), on which she has been working for a long time, progresses on the issues we briefly touched upon above. The artist, who creates a defined whole by surrounding a specific area or space, actually builds structures/sculptures using basic shapes and colors. She wants us to dwell on concepts like house and house with complex references in the mind, and with the simplest form of a line. Pınar Yılmaz's houses progress through various topics such as the boundaries of private space, family intimacy, creating spatial compositions with square, rectangle, and triangle forms, and creating variations of the house with industrial materials. These variations can be abstractions of details such as windows and doors, or they can also be "sculptures of space" that reach a unique abstract composition by intersecting, merging, and intersecting at random points. Pınar Yılmaz's series of "Haneler" (Houses), whether positioned on the wall or in the middle of the space, speaks as variations of a symbolic image in the mind of the viewer it faces, evoking countless different stories.

Esra Aliçavuşoğlu